Culinary basket



June 10 192 1,496,957

w. R.- WALKER CUL INARY BASKET Filed Jan. 19. 1921 2 sneems-sn ex'l Patented June 10, 1924.

s PATENT ounce.

WILLARD R. WALKER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO WALKER BROTHERS COMPANY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CO'RPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CULINARY BASKET.

Application filed January 19, 1921. Serial No. 438,379..

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, WILLARD R. WALK R, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Culinary Baskets, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aj full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to certain improvements in culinary baskets or trays of the class set forth in my pending application #406,305 filed August 27, 1920 in that it is adapted to receive and support quantities of crockery dishes and other dining or kitchen utensils for transportation from one place to another but more particularly for supporting said utensils within" the vat of a dish washin machine in such manner that the washing uid may be impelled against all portions of the utensils until thoroughly cleansed and also allowing the dishes to drain until practically dry following the washing operation. That is, the tray or basket may be taken into the dining-room or other place where the soiled dishes are collected and properly placed in the tray which with the soiled dishes therein then conveyed to and placed within the vat of the washing machine where they are thoroughly cleansed and dried as previously stated whereupon the tray with the cleansed dishes therein may be removed from the vat and carried to the place for distribution of said dishes where the latter are removed and stored for future use thus permitting the empty tray to be reused in washing and drying other soiled dishes when desired.

The main object is to provide a tray or basket of this character which is light, strong and durable and capable of holding a large number of utensils in compact but spaced relation so that the washing fluid may pass freely through the basket and between and against all portions of the utensils.

The main body of the basket is preferably made of metal for strength and durability and one of the specific objects is to provide means ztor protecting the dishes against breakage when inserting them into and removing them from the basket.

A further object is to provide the tray or basket with a removable cage or supplemental tray for the reception of knives, forks, spoons and similar implements, thus permitting the supplemental tray to be easily removed and replaced from and within the main basket without disturbing any of the other utensils.

Another object is to construct the upright, tangential partitions in such manner as to reduce to a minimum the area of contact of the dishes therewith or in other words,

to bring the contacting points some distance Other objects and uses relating to specific. parts of the basket willbe brought out in the following description:

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top planof a culinary basket embodying the various features of my invention.

Figure2 is an enlarged, transverse, vertical sectional view of the same basket taken on line 22 Figure 1..

Figures 3 and 4 are enlarged, detail sec-- tional views taken, respectively, on lines 3'3, 4-4 Figure 1.

Figure 5 is the top plan partly in section of a portion of the upper marginal ring of the basket showing the manner of fastening the butter ring thereto.

Figure 6 is a detail sectional view of portions of one of the buffer rings and its underlying supporting ring showing the manner of securing the spliced ends of the bufi'er ring together.

As illustrated, the basket is circular in top plan to correspond approximately to the interior diameter of a circular vat of the washing machine-so that it may be inserted into and withdrawn from the open top of the vat with an easy sliding fit and comprises a series of, in this instance 3, co-axial wire rings, 1, 2 and 3 of substantially the same diameter and held in parallel spaced relation one above the other by a series of up right posts -l which are spaced uniform distances apart circumferentially and are rigidly secured to each of said rings by spot welding or equivalent fastening means, thereby forming a rigid outer circular wall having relatively large openings between the several rings and also between the posts 1 through which the washing fluid may readily ass.

he lower ring 1- constitutes what may be termed the base and is adapted to rest upon the outer marginal edge of a conical vat similar to that set forth in my pending application serial #454,631 filed March 23, 1921, although it is evident that it may be otherwise supported within the vat if desired.

The intermediate ring -2 forms the outer marginal portion of an openwork bottom for receiving and supporting crockery dishes and other utensils and for this purpose, diflerent portions of opposite sides of the ring 2 are connected by diametrically extending tie-rods .5 crossing each other at the axis of the basket at uniform angles and havin their outer ends securely fastened to said ring at points uniform distances apart circumferentially for receiving and supporting a series of supplemental concentric rings -6 which are secured by spot welding or otherwise to the upper faces of the radial tie-rods '5 in uniform spaced relation radially and coaxial with the axis of the basket soas to lie in proximately the same horizontal plane as the ring 2-, thereby forming a series of relatively large openings between the tie-rods 5 and also between the rings 2 and 6-, the latter being spaced uniform distances from each other and also from the outer ring -2-'. The space between the openwork bottom as 7- and the top ring 3 is considerably greater than that between the bottom and lower ring -1 or of sufficient height above said bottom to confine the larger size dishes within the basket when resting edgewise upon the bottom, it being understood that the rings 1 and 3 are secured respectively to the extreme lower and extreme upper ends ofthe posts 4 which are of uniform hei ht, thereby permitting the bot tom ring or ase 1- to rest flatwise upon a table or similar fiat support for stability and strength, particularly when the basket is loaded with dishes. A circular guard rail or supplemental ring 8- of substantially the same diameter as that of the rings 1, 2 and 3 is rigidly secured by a spot welding or otherwise to the posts 4 in a lane above and parallel with the bottom coaxial therewith for the purpose of confining smaller dishes within the basket when resting edgewise or otherwise upon the ,bottom 7 said ring 8 being spaced from and between the rings -2- and 3 but slightly nearer to the plane of the ring 2. The innermost ring 6 of the bottom wall 7- is of greater radius than the distance between the several rings -6- and forms a convenient bottom support for a central cylindrical cage -9- preferably of meats? ally held in place by-the spring clasps -10 but may be easily withdrawn and replaced through the opened top of the basket when desired, said cage beingadapted to receive knives, forks, spoons and other small articles and has its bottom and side walls perforated throughout their area to permit the passage of water and other washing fluid therethrough, the top of the cage being normally extended some distance above the top of the rail 3- to permit it to be removed and reinserted without interference with the dishes in other parts of the basket.

As a further means for reinforcing and stifi'ening the bottom -7- of the basket, the several rings thereof are connected together by additional radial tie-rods -11 which are secured by spot welding or otherwise to said bottom rings in alternate relation to and midway between the radial arms of the tie-rods .5.

It is now clear that the cage -9- and outer rings -3 and --8- form the inner and outer walls of an intervening chamber of which the rings 2 and 6 and tierods 5- and 11 forms the bottom and that practically the entire chamber above the bottom and between said inner and outer walls is available for said dishes, the majority of which are supported edgewise upon the bottom, and in order that they may be expeditiously and eflectively cleansed by an upward and circular whirl of the washing fluid, suitable means is provided for supporting the dishes in more or less systematic tangential relation to one or the other intermediate rings -6 or to some circle concentric therewith and for this purpose is provided a series of substantially upright lOO openwork partitions 12 arranged in uniform spaced relation circumferentially and extending inwardly and downwardly from the rings 3- and 8 across the greater portion of the dish receiving chamber in lanes substantially tangential to one of the innermost rings 6 to which the downwardly projecting ends of the partitions are rigidly secured by spot welding or other fastening means, the outer ends of the upper and lower parts of said partitions being secured by spot welding or equivalent means to the rings 3-- and -8-, respectively.

' sists of an upper angular'wire section 13- and a lower wire section -14, the outer end of the upper section 13 being ofi'set circumferentially t -15 just inside of its point of securement to the ring 3 while the'inner end of the same section is bent downwardly to form a vertical post 16-, having its lower end offset laterally at 17-- just above its point of attachment to adjacent rings 6-, both offsets -15 and -17 being in the same direction so that the intervening portions may engage the concave faces of the plates and thereby prevent contact'of the edges of the plates with the partitions for the purpose of reducing to a minimum the liabi ity of chipping said edges.

In other words, the portions of the wires -13 and 16 between the offset ends 15 and :17- are all slightly convexed in the same general direction circumferentially of the basket while the plates and similar dishes which are placed edgewise upon the bottom between the partitions are arranged with aconcave side facing generally in the opposite direction whereby the convexed side of each partition will engage the concave side of the next adjacent plate at that side, it being understood that the space between the adjacent partitions gradually increases from their inner ends toward their outer ends to allow the plates to separate more or less from each other when closely stacked between the inner ends of the partitions and that these partitions serve to hold the plates in more or less tangential relation to the innermost rings with their concave sides facing in a direction opposite to that of the whirling motion of the washing fluid. The offsets 17-: at the. lower ends of the posts 16 are disposed in approximately the same horizontal planes as that of the ring 8 and forms suitable seats for the inner ends of the sections 14- of the partition where they are secured by spot welding or equivalent fastening means, the outer ends of the section -14 being secured by similar fastening means to the ring 8- and extended downwardly and secured by spot welding to-the underlying ring 2 thereby forming supplemental posts'18 for additionally supporting the circular guard rail 8-' in xed'r'elation to and above the bottom ring 2 for the purpose ofholding the smaller dishes against lateral displacement when resting edgewise upon the openwork bottom of the basket and also for holding the lower edges of the larger dishes from lateral displacement from said bottom. L

The tie-rods -5- and --11- extend radially across the under sides of the several have their outer rings looped at 19- around the outermost ring -2- to additional strengthen the bottom of the basket, and also permitting the rings to present continuously smooth bearing surfaces for the edges of the dishes throughout their lengths and thereby reducing to a minimum the chipping or breaking the edges of the dishes as they are moved along the rings.

. The entire basket with the exception of the cage -9 is preferably made of steel wire and in order that the liability of breaking or chippingof the dishes may be further reduced, the majority of the rings '-6- between the cage 9 and outer ring -2- where the edges of the larger dishes are more liable to rest, are covered by buffer rings 20 of wood fiber or other more or' less resilient material capable of resisting the action of the washing fluid and the wear of the dishes,-the inner edge of the topmost ring --3- being covered by a similar buffer ring 21 for the same purpose, said buffer rings'being preferably circular in cross section to reduce the area of contact with the edges of the dishes.

The buffer rings 20- are secured in. place to the underlying rings -6 by staples 22- or equivalent fastening means whereby the upper surfaces of the buffer rings engaged by the dishes may be free from metal. (See Fig. 4.) The ends of the buffer rings 20 are spliced at Q3 and secured together-by staples -24, the splices being preferably vertical while the staples are driven through the ends horizontally between the upper and lower faces thereof so as to from metal.v

The upper buffer ring -2l is held in place against the inner ring -3 by means of loops 25' onthe outer ends of the partition bar 13--, said loops serving to embrace both the rings 21- and 23 at substantially the same points, the buffer rings being spliced horizontally at 26- and are arranged so as to be embraced by one of the loops -25- which'holds the spliced ends in contact and against displacement without any further fastening means. 7 V

The diametrically opposite sides ofthe upper ring 25- are provided .with U. shape wire handles 27 having their ends looped around both of the rings 23 and 25-- for hinged connection therewith whereby the handles may be dropped to any position from a vertical plane along. the outside of the basket to a substantially horizontal plane over and upon the basket where they are out of the way when the basketis placed in the vat of the washing machine.

The use of this invention will now be leave the upper faces free.

readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanyingf drawings and while the construction shown and described is preferable, it is evident that various details thereof may be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction shown and described.

What I claim is: 1. A culinary basket comprising lower, intermediate and upper metal rings in vertically spaced relation, posts crossing said rings in circumferentially spaced relation and secured thereto at the crossings, additional metal rings within and spaced apart from the intermediate ring and from each other to form an openwork bottom, and tie-rods crossing said additional rings and secured thereto at their crossings and attached to the intermediate ring.

QIA cylindrical openwork basket having a series of partitions extending inwardly from its side walls in spaced relation circumferentially, each partition having the lower portion of its inner end offset circumferentially in one direction and secured to the bottom of the basket, and the outer end of its upper portion secured to the side wall of said basket. I

3. A. cylindrical openwork basket having a series of partitions extending inwardly e ea? from its side walls in spaced relation circumferentially, each partition having the lower portion of its inner end offset circumferentially in one direction and secured to the bottom of the basket, and the outer end of its upper portion offset in the same direction and secured to the side Wall of said basket.

4. A culinaryv basket comprisin a series of spaced concentric rings, tie-ro s extending radially across the undersides of said rings and secured thereto to form therewith an openwork bottom, upright posts secured to and extending some distance above and below the outermost ring, additional rings secured to the posts in planes above and.

below and parallel with said bottom to form the sides of the basket, and a series of upright partitions arranged circumferentially in spaced relation diagonally across said bottom rings and having their outer ends secured to one of the side rings and their inner ends secured to one of the bottom rings; I

In witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of January,l92l.

WILLARD 1a. WALKER. 

